Area residents are being asked to give a group of local soldiers an appropriate send off.
Battery C of the Ohio National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 174th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, stationed at the armory in Marysville is being deployed this week.
Officials from the Ohio National Guard said the unit is deploying to Europe and “will provide enhanced air defense capability in support of U.S. European Command, as part of the European Deterrence Initiative.”
The group will help train other air defense units in Europe and could have some on-call orders for emergencies in Europe.
A Call to Duty Ceremony is scheduled for 5 p.m., Wednesday in the Marysville High School Auditorium, and is expected to last about an hour. At the ceremony, the approximately 80 members of the unit will be officially placed on active duty and given field orders.
“We would like the general public to turn out along Amrine Mill Road one hour before the ceremony and one hour after the ceremony, to wave flags and signs wishing the soldiers well as they arrive and depart the school,” said Ken Bonnell, president of the Union County Veterans Service Commission and chairman of the Union County Military Family Support Group.
The general public is being asked to not park in the High School lots, but in the Early College High School lot or the area near where the school buses are parked.
The unit will actually leave the armory at 1:45 p.m., Thursday.
“The public is also encouraged to turn out along the route, waving flags and wishing these soldiers well,” Bonnell said.
Busses carrying the soldiers are expected to leave the armory, traveling on Colemans Crossing to Industrial Parkway, turning left onto Industrial Parkway at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3320. The busses will take Industrial Parkway to Scottslawn Road and Scottslawn Road to U.S. Route 33.
The public should not park in the Armory lot, but park in lots along the route. The VFW Post 3320 has said it will allow the public to park in their lot.
Bonnell said the soldiers deserve the community support.
“They are from all over the state of Ohio, but the unit is stationed out of Marysville and has been since 2008,” Bonnell said.
The 174th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is under the command of Col. Larry Pinkerton, commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. James Nichols.
Earlier in the day Wednesday about 150 personnel from the 1st Battalion, 174th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, headquartered in Cincinnati, will be deployed to provide personnel support to the homeland defense mission in the National Capital Region in Washington, D.C., which includes the use of radar, ground-based air defense systems and communications equipment.
The Marysville Armory also got an about 100 new soldiers at a “Re-Designation Ceremony” on Sunday. This ceremony officially changed Ohio National Guard’s 585th Military Police Company to Battery C, 1st Battalion, 134th Field Artillery Regiment.
Bonnell said the Union County Military Family Support Group is prepared to meet the needs of soldiers and family members during the deployment.
“We have let the soldiers and their families know that we are here to help them while their loved ones are serving our nation and are deployed,” Bonnell said.